Unplanned
by karly05
Summary: Candace is dealing with an unanticipated situation, and Ferb is ready to lend her an ear and a shoulder. T for subject matter, this plays into my overall long-term story arc for Candace.


**A/N – In "Christmas Song," I introduced Ambrose Petersen, and explained what had happened between Candace and Jeremy. I'm as much in favor of Canderemy as anyone, but the Amanda/Xavier/Fred canon handed to us in "Quantum Boogaloo" (the 20-years-in-the-future episode) presented some complications that must be dealt with. This story is one piece in the puzzle that will eventually be my long-term story arc for Candace. Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh own the P&F characters.**

Unplanned

Ferb hesitated in the hallway. Candace's door was ajar; he could see her flopped on the bed, three-quarters on her face, her back toward him. Reaching out, he tapped lightly – so lightly, he wondered if she would even hear it.

"_What?_" she snapped.

Pain, fear, defiance, Ferb tried to sort out the emotions lurking behind that one word. He pushed open the door just enough to slip through, and closed it behind him. Candace rolled onto her back to see who had come in, and her frown softened when her eyes met his. She sat up, legs spilling over the side of the bed, hands draped over her knees, shoulders slumping. Without a word, Ferb sat down beside her. He wasn't supposed to know what was going on. Technically, he didn't know, but he had a fairly good idea. Candace probably didn't have her fifteen-year-old stepbrother high on the list of people she wanted to talk to right now, but Ferb suspected that she might want to talk to someone, and he was a good listener. He considered reaching out for her hand, but decided that it seemed too much like a gesture of pity. Instead, he looked straight ahead of himself and said, in a calm, quiet voice: "When are you due?"

Candace looked at him – in resignation, not surprise. "Mom and Dad told you?"

Ferb shook his head. "Quite the contrary. All these closed-door discussions have been so hush-hush, it seemed the most logical conclusion."

"Brilliant deduction, Holmes," she grumbled, laying a hand on her still-flat belly. "Well, it's not as if everyone won't know before long."

"I take it you've discussed this with Ambrose. That is, presuming…" Ferb's voice trailed off uncomfortably.

Candace answered the unspoken question first. "Yes, it's his, and yes, he knows. He wants us to get married. I think he's actually excited about it."

"How do you feel about it?" Ferb countered.

"Well…" Candace took a thoughtful breath. "I've always wanted to be a mother." She chuckled a bit as she said, "Remember that time you thought Perry laid an egg, and I had to put on my Mom Suit and teach you guys how to take care of it?"

Ferb smiled at this recollection.

"I just thought it would be a few more years down the road," she confessed. "I mean, Ambrose and I were already talking about getting married when I finish college, but I thought I'd have some time to start a career first, before…"

She fell silent, and neither said anything until Ferb asked, as calmly as he could, "What _will_ you do about college?"

"Ugh, Ferb, I don't need a lecture!" Candace groaned. Obviously, this had been a hot topic in those closed-door discussions.

"I'm not lecturing," said Ferb, striving to restrain himself from doing exactly that. Candace wasn't a child; she was in her second year at Danville University. And Ambrose was twenty-two; he had a degree in journalism and a full-time job as a correspondent for the Daily Danville. They were intelligent adults, for heaven's sake, they had been in a serious relationship for over a year, and this was the twenty-first century. Ferb admitted that perhaps he didn't fully understand all the complexities of romance, but he could see no excuse for not being prepared for the inevitable Tsunami of Love, or taking even the simplest of precautions when it struck. Still, Candace was right, the last thing she needed at this stage was a lecture, and he was certain she'd already had enough of that from Mum.

"And I'm not dropping out," she informed him now, with a determined set of her jaw. "I'm not due until summer, I'll be through my Sophomore year before the baby comes. I'll take a semester off, that's all, then I can go back and finish my degree. I've still got enough in my college fund, and Ambrose has a good job, and Dan-U has a great Child Development Center for day care; we're going to be fine."

"I know you will." Ferb finally reached out and drew his sister's hand into both of his. "I know you'll succeed at anything you put your mind to."

Candace turned to look at him, and responded with a small, sharp laugh. "Except for busting my brothers."

"I've wondered if perhaps your heart wasn't entirely in that," Ferb ventured, with a teasing glance. When this coaxed a smile from her, he rubbed her hand gently between his and said, "Candace, you're my sister, and I love you. And you know Phineas adores you, and Mum and Dad love you, and we're all here for you, no matter what happens." He paused for a moment as he searched for a delicate way to say what was on his mind, and ended up taking the direct approach. "You don't _have_ to marry Ambrose."

Candace jerked her hand away from his with an exasperated exclamation. "Ferb, I _want_ to marry him. I know you're not crazy about him, but I love him, and he loves me. I think you're really not fair to him," she accused. "Phineas likes him."

"Phineas likes everyone."

"Ambrose is a good man," said Candace. "He's sweet, and honest, and kind. And he's smart, and responsible…"

_If he was responsible, you wouldn't be pregnant,_ thought Ferb, but again, he refrained from expressing this view. "He treats me like a child," Ferb complained. "He calls me _kiddo_."

Candace reached out and rubbed his back for a moment before she said, "I think he just doesn't know what to say to you. You know, Ferb, you can be kind of intimidating."

He was genuinely surprised by this. "I?"

"Yes, you," Candace informed him. "You're like some super genius, and you're all quiet and mysterious. You're my brother, and I'm used to it, but people who don't know you… well, they don't always know what to make of you."

"I'm not a genius." Frankly, he found the idea slightly annoying, with its implication that he was in some way abnormal. "And I can't imagine how a strapping great chap like Ambrose could find me intimidating."

"Honestly, I think the accent is part of it, too. You know how we Americans are," Candace tried to turn it into a joke. "We're still impressed by the Queen's English." With a little squeeze of his shoulder, she said, "I wish you'd give him a chance."

Ferb rolled his eyes half-playfully. "Well, since he's going to be my brother-in-law, I don't suppose I have a choice in the matter."

With a smile, Candace wrapped one arm around his neck and pulled him into a hug. "No. No, you don't."

THE END

**A/N – Yes, I'm making Amanda the daughter of Candace and Ambrose. And here's my reasoning behind making her a "surprise": We know Candace is 15 in the series, so 20 years later, she is 35. Assuming that Amanda is 15 in "Quantum Boogaloo," Candace would have been 20 when she was born. Even if we hedge a bit and say Amanda is 14 (and I can't see her being younger than that), then assuming that Candace did a traditional 4 year degree, there's no way Candace wasn't still in college when she got pregnant. Sure, she could get married right out of high school and go straight into having kids, but at some point in the series, Candace makes reference to her plan to date Jeremy all through high school and college _then_ marry him, so I don't think it's off base of me to have her sticking to that philosophy of _College First, Marriage After_.**


End file.
